UCSD, FEDS OK ACCORD ON RACIAL POLICIES

Federal probe followed series of incidents in 2010

UC San Diego has voluntarily agreed to take steps to prevent racial harassment on the La Jolla campus after federal officials launched an investigation into several complaints, including the public display of nooses and a Ku Klux Klan-style hood in 2010.

Under terms of the agreement, which was announced Friday, the university will maintain an office to receive, investigate and resolve complaints of harassment and discrimination; revise its campus policies regarding racial harassment to ensure they are consistent with federal civil rights law; and provide training for staff and students.

The agreement was reached with the Department of Justice and the Department of Education after multiple complaints of harassment against African-American students were investigated, including a February 2010 off-campus party called the Compton Cookout that mocked Black History Month. Those attending were asked to wear chains and cheap clothes, while women were encouraged to dress as “ghetto chicks.” Later that same month, a noose was found in the Geisel Library, and in March, a KKK-style hood was found atop a Dr. Seuss statute. A second noose was found suspended from a stairwell in Mandeville Hall in July 2010.

The race-related events sparked demonstrations and rallies on campus.

“Students have a right to seek and obtain an education without facing racial harassment. UCSD, like all colleges and universities, has an obligation to make clear that racial discrimination and harassment on campus will not be tolerated, and this agreement is a significant step in the right direction,” Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.

The University of California San Diego voluntarily entered into the agreement. If it had not, a lawsuit could have been filed against the university seeking compliance, a Department of Justice spokeswoman said.

The university had already taken some of the 22 steps delineated in the 17-page agreement. Among them are the development of the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination where bias, harassment and discrimination complaints can be filed, and the creation of a council on campus climate, equity and inclusion.

Allyssa Villanueva, president of the Black Student Union, said she feels that the climate on campus has improved since the incidents of 2010, particularly because the administration now works directly with student groups on issues of harassment and discrimination.

One laudable change is that students are required to take a class in diversity, she said.

“There are always going to be new generations of students each year, and they all come in with their own opinions, their own thoughts,” she said.

Villanueva said UCSD now has more institutions in place to respond to complaints and concerns about harassment and discrimination.

“It sounds like they are just announcing things that have already been done or been improved,” Villanueva said of the agreement. “I think all of it is helpful that people are paying attention to campus climate and student experiences.”

Under the terms of the agreement, UCSD said it would enact steps to prevent racial harassment on campus and respond appropriately to harassment that occurs.